Taming a mini-mooc-like environment, with the emphasis on co-learning.

A step back from the Siemens-Wiley debate. Cormier considers the tensions in a MOOC: "If the MOOC challenges anything, it challenges the idea that a teacher can decide what people need to know, how much they currently know and what they should get out of the learning process. You can’t. You just can’t do it, not consistently, not over time, not for the majority of your students, not for millions of teachers. The solution presented by the MOOC is that the learner should begin to take control of how and what they are to learn."

Survey results of the CCK08 course. Reviews the short history of MOOCs, places them as OER with interaction. "the course attracted adult, informal learners, who were not concerned about course completion. Time constraints, language barriers, and ICT skills affected the participants’ choice of tools; for example, learners favoured the passive, time-saving mailing list over interactive, time-consuming discussions forums and blogs. Some recommendations for future MOOCs include highlighting the purpose of the tools (e.g., skill-building) and stating clearly that the learners can choose their preferred tools. Further research on sustainability and facilitator workload should be conducted to determine the cost and effectiveness of MOOCs. Investigation is also necessary to understand MOOC participant profiles as they relate to course outcomes and retention and whether terms such as course and attrition are appropriate in this context."

Good entry point to the Siemens and WIley debating some of the qualities and position of MOOCs. "the fact that people don’t have the skills to participate in distributed networks for learning and sensemaking is exactly why we need MOOCs."

Buzz page for pdf and hard-copy editions of a text on OER and open textbook creation compiled by Sharon Fitzpatrick.

via zombiescholar. Brian Lamb on OER, new academic cultures, EduPunk and all the rest of it this place is getting to me I can't take it any more I could get out of here and move to Canada that's where stuff it happening or maybe someplace in Cumbria Far Sawrey looked good

Weller and Groom. State of the academy: " The uptake of new technologies in research and associated practices can be seen as a barometer for innovation within higher education. ... We suggest one possible antidote to this zombification of higher education is the use of new technologies and particularly the cultural norms they embody." Yes, and yes again. Complication arises when the local culture is a Dawn of the Dead shopping mall.

update on SCORM on OER.

I'm envious of the brave. Jim Groom is brave. Jim has a hellava course started here that I'm going to shamelessly emulate in designing the backend of Weblogs and Wikis as it goes open. Assignments are central, and those I have seen are doozies. But aggregation and syndication are the pedagogical magic.

another ple-like space to follow

one to follow.

John Seely Brown and Richard P. Adler social learning is based on the premise that our understanding of content is socially constructed through conversations about that content and through grounded interactions, especially with others, around problems or